Four Union Ministers in the Modi cabinet, Hardeep Singh Puri (Petroleum and Natural Gas), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Aviation), Kiren Rijiju (law) and Gen (Retd) VK Singh (minister of State for aviation) are flying out to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to evacuate the stranded Indians in the war-hit region.
Gen (Retd) VK Singh had earlier coordinated the rescue mission in war-hit Yemen for Indians in 2015 when he was the MoS External Affairs.
Similarly, in 2016, he had accompanied 156 Indians, evacuated by Indian Air Force from war-hit South Sudan.
Reports have emerged that Ukrainian agencies are harassing Indians, almost in a hostage-like situation, to force a support from the Modi government on international forums.
TS Tirumurti, ambassador of India to the United Nations, has expressed concern in a statement about the safety of Indian nationals in Ukraine. He said: “We continue to be deeply concerned about the safety and security of Indian nationals, including a large number of Indian students, who are still stranded in Ukraine.
“Our evacuation efforts have been adversely impacted by the complex and uncertain situation at the border crossings. It is important to maintain an uninterrupted and predictable movement of people. It is an urgent humanitarian necessity that must be immediately addressed.”
The Indian government has been flushing out Indians from Ukraine under Mission Ganga program since the trouble has begun. It’s said almost 20,000 Indians are stranded in Ukraine.
For the time being, nearly 1,000 Indians have been evacuated.
